Submarine sound transmitter



July 8 1924.

J. H. HAMMOND, JR

SUBMARINE SOUND TRANSMITTER Original Filed Feb.- 20, 918

II ll n'lll lll Q llll 1| Ki A Q I HIS ATTORNEY Patented July 8, 1924.

JOHN HAYS HAMMOND, 31%., F GLOUCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

SUBMARINE SOUND TRANSMITTER.

Application filed February 20, 1918, Serial No. 218,325. RenewedNovember 9, 1928.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN HAYS HAM- MOND, JR., a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in Gloucester, in the county of Essex and State ofMassachusetts, have in vented certain new and useful Improvements inSubmarine Sound Transmitters, of'which the following is a specification.

Some of the objects of this invention are to provide improved means forgenerating submarine compressional waves; to provide means whereby aseries of compressional waves having a predetermined frequency may betransmitted through long distances and to provide other improvements aswill appear hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a fragmentary diagrammatic sideeleva tion partly in vertical central section of a submarine soundtransmitter constructed in accordance with this invention; Fig. 2 is asimilar view of a modified form of this invention; Fig. 3 is afragmentary side elevation of a further modified form of this invention;and Fig. 4 is a diagram explanatory of the operation of the system shownin Fig. 3.

One form of this invention, as shown in Fig. 1, comprises a submarinebell made of metal or other suitable material and provided with acylindrical, tubular extension 11 integral therewith and projectingcentrally and radially therefrom. The inner end of this extension 11communicates with the bell 10 and the outer end of this extension 11 isclosed by a plug 12 made of insulating material fixedly secured therein.Extending snugly and axially through the plug 12 is a stem 14 ofelectrically conducting material which is held in a fixed position bythe plug 12 and which is provided upon its inner end with a disk 15 interal therewith and arranged within the bel 10 adjacent the opening intothe extension 11.

For generating a series of sparks having a predetermined frequencywithin the bell and between the disk 15 and. the bell 10, the outer endof the stem 14 is connected by a conductor to one end of a coil 21, theother end of which is connected by a conductor 22 to the tubularextension 11.

The conductors 20 and 22 are covered with waterproof insulating materialand the pontion of the stem 14 which extends outside of the plug 12 ,IVSalso covered with waterproof insulating material. The coil 21 forms thesecondary of a transformer 25 which has'a primary coil 26 which forms apart of a oircuit'27 which is controlled by a key 28 and which isarranged to be energized by an alternating current generator 29 or othersource of alternating electric current. When the key 28 is closed,alternating electric oscillations are caused to flow through the primarycoil 26 which causes corresponding oscillations of hi her voltage in thesecondary coil 21 and t ese latter oscillations cause a series of sparksto be set up between the disk 15 and the bell 10, the sparks occurringin re ular sequence and having a frequency aqua? to twice the frequencyof the alternator 29. The alternator 29 may be so operated to produceany desired frequency, for instance, a frequency of 60 cycles persecond, which when the key 28 is closed would produce one hundred twentysparks per second 'between the disk 15 and the bell 10. For producing aseries of explosions within the bell 10 the tubular extension 11 isrically opposed inlets and 36 which are arranged to communicaterespectively through two pipes 37 and 38 with two stationary tanks 39and 40 which contain respectively high pressure, for instance of 2000lbs. per square inch, the flow through the pipes 37 and 38 beingcontrolled respectively by two adjustable valves 41 and 42 of anysuitable construction. The valves may be in the form of electric valvescontrolled respectively by two solenoids 43 and 44 arranged in series ina circuit 45 energized by a battery 46 and controlled by a key or switch47.

In the operation of the form of this invention shown in Fig. 1, oxygenfrom the tank 39 and hydrogen from the tank 40 are rovided with twodiamet- .3

oxygen and hydrogen under a permitted to flow into the tubular extension11 in such proportions as to form an ex losive mixture which, whenexploded, will produce water. This mixture of gases flows downwardlythrough the extension 11 and into the upper portion of the bell 10 andforces the water downwardly through the open end of the bell. When thekey 28 which is normally left open is now closed, a series of sparkshaving a predetermined frequency will'be set up between the d1sk 15 andthe bell 10 and will cause the oxygen and hydrogen to combine chemicallywithin the bell to form water each time a spark is generated, andconsequently a series of explosions or detonations. are produced 1n thebell 10 having a frequency of twice the frequency of that of thealternator 29. These explosions will produce powerful series ofsubmarine sound waves or compressional waves having twice the frequencyof the explosions and which may be received by any suitable receiyingapparatus whlch may be located a considerable dlstance from thetransmitter.

In the modified form of this invent on as shown in Fig. 2, thehereinbefore described bell 10 is omitted and the system comprlses acylindrical tube 50 of metal or any other suitable material, which isopen' at one end and which is closed at its other end by a plug 51 ofinsulating material fixedly secured therein. Extending snugly and axial-1 through the plug 51 is a stem 52 of conducting material. This stem 52extends longitudinally of the tube 50 and the nner end of the stem isturned towards the inner surface of the tube 50 to provide a term1nal 53which is held in a fixed posit1on w1th respect to the tube 50 and spaceda sultable distance away from the inner surface. of the tube.

For generating a series of sparks having a predeterminedfrequencybetween the terminal 53 and the tube 50, the outer end of thestem 52 is connected by a conductor 53' to one end of a coil 54, theother end of which is connected by a conductor to the tube 50. The twoconductors 53 and 55 and the outer portion of the stem 52 are coveredwith insulating material. The coil 54 forms the secondary of atransformer 55' which includes a primary coil 56 which is arranged in acircuit 57 controlled by a key 58 and arranged to-be energized by analternating current generator 59.

For generating a series of explosions within the tube 50, the tube 50 isprovided adjacent its inner end with two diametrically opposed inlets 60and 61 which are arranged to communicate respectively through plpes 62and 63 with two tanks 64 and 65 containing respectively oxygen andhydrogen under pressure, the pipes 62 and 63 being controlled by twovalves 64 and 65 of any suitable construction. One or more circularbaffle plates 66 and 67 may be rigidly secured to the stem 52' andspaced upon opposite sides respectively of an annular plate 68surrounding and spaced from the stem 52 and rigidly secured to the tube50 to cause the oxygen and hydrogen. to be'thoroughly mixed within thetube 50.

In the operation of the form of this. invention shown in Fig. 2, oxygenand hydrogen are permitted to flow in suitable proportions through thepipes 62 and 63 and .into the inner end of the tube 50, thusforcing thewater outwardly through the open end of the tube 50 until the water hasbeen cleared from the terminal 53; The switch 58, which is normally leftopen, is now closed and a series of electric sparks having apredetermined frequency will consequently be produced between theterminal 53 and the tube 50 so' long as key 58 is kept closed, and thiswill cause the oxygen and hydrogen to unite in a series of explosions toproduce a corresponding series of submarine sound waves or compressionalwaves having a frequency twice the frequency of-the alternator 59, andthese submarine waves may be received upon any suitable receivingapparatus. The intensity of the submarine waves may be varied by varying"the rate at which the gases fidw into the exploding chamber since eachspark explodes all the explosive mixture in the chamber at that instant.

In the modified form of this invention shown in Fig. 3 a plurality ofsubmarine bells 10, constructed as 'hereinbefore described, are eachprovided with a tubular extension 11 and a stem 14. The tubularextensions 11 are arranged to be supplied with oxygen from a tank 75through a main pipe 76 and branch pipes 77, 78 and 79 respectively,these branch pipes being controlled by suitable valves 80, 81, 82. Thetubular extensions 11 are also arranged to be supplied with hydrogenfrom a tank 85 through a main pipe 86 and branch pipes 87, 88 and 89,these branch pipes being controlled by suitable valves 90, 91 and 92.

For producing electric sparks successively in the three submarine bells10, a commutator 95 is provided, which includes a switcharm 96 which isarranged to be rotated about a fixed axis, and three fixed segmentalconducting plates 97, 98 and 99 which are arranged to be engagedsuccessively by the free end of the switch-arm 96 and which areconnected respectively by conductors 105, 106 and 107 to the outer endsof the three stems 14 of the three bells 10. The switcharm 96 isarranged to be rotated at any predetermined rate by means of an electricmotor 110 or by any other suitable means and is connected by a conductor115 with one end of a coil 116, the other end of which is connected by aconductor 117 and branch conductors 118 to the three tubular extensions11 of the three bells 10. The coil 116 forms the secondary of atransformer 125 which has a primary coil 126 which is in a circuit 127controlled by a key 128 and arranged to tensionsll in suitableproportions to produce the explosions, and the key 128, which isnormally open, is now closed and a plurality of series of sparks willthen be produced in the three bells in the succession determined by thecommutator 95. By thus producing the explosions in the bellssuccessivelya series of submarine waves will be produced having a wave frequencyequal to twice the frequency of the electrical oscillations produced bythe alternator 130'. Moreover by thus causing the bells to act insuccession, any danger of over heating the disk; or stem 1a of anyparticular bell is obviated.

By the use of a plurality of bells 10, as shown in Fig. 3, compressionalwaves -may be produced having frequencies higher than the frequencieswhich may be produced by a single bell system such as is shown inFigure 1. In the system shown in Figure 3 the gases are continuallyflowing into the three bells 10, and the sparks are produced so rapidlythat sufficientgas does not flow into any one of the bells between twosucceeding sparks to produce a heavy explosion. While one bell 10 isbeing exploded the other bells 10, 10 are being filled with theexplosive mixture. In Fig.4 the full curved line 150 represents thealternating current wave, and the points 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, etc.,at the crest of the waves are the points on which the bells 10 would beexploded. The arm 96 of the commutator 95 is rotated in syn chronismwith the alternator 130 and at such a rate that the arm will be in thecentre of one of the segments 97 98 or 99 when the alternating currentin the circuit controlling the bells 10 is either at the crest of apositive wave or at the crest of a negative wave; for instance, eitherat one of the positive crests 151, 153, 155, etc., or at one of thenegative crests 152, 154, etc., and so that when the arm 96 is on thenext succeeding segment the wave will be at the next crest, eitherpositive or negative. For instance, when the arm 96 is at the centre ,ofthe segment 97, and the alternating current in the circuit controllingthe bells 10 is at a corresponding positive peak, for instance, at thepoint 151 of the curve 150, then an explosionwould occur in thecorresponding extreme left hand bell 10, and as the arm 96 is rotated ina clockwise direction, when the arm reaches the centre of the nextsegment 98, the alternating current would be at the peak of thesucceeding negative crest, and an explosion would occur at the point 152in the extreme right hand bell 10, and when the arm 96 reaches thecentre of the third segment 99, an explosion would occur in the centralbell 10 at the point 154 of the next negative crest of the wave, and thecycle of explosions would then be repeated at the peaks of succeedinghalf cycles of the wave 150, giving each bell suflicient time betweenexplosions (the time of 1% cycles of the waves produced by the generator130) in which to be filled with an explosive mixture of fresh gases. 7

Although only a few of the many forms have been shown in which thisinvention may be embodied, it is to be understood that the invention isnot limited to any specific construction, but might be embodied invarious forms without departing from the spirit of the invention or thescope of the-appended claims.

-Having thus fully described this invention, I claim:

1. The combination with a hollow submarine device provided with anoutlet, of means for continuously supplying the interior of said devicewith an explosive mixture, and

means for exploding said mixture within said device periodically. i

2. The combination with a hollow submarine device provided with anoutlet, of means for continuously supplying the interior of said devicewith an explosive gaseous mixture, and means for exploding said mixturewithin said device periodically.

3. The combination with a hollow submarine device provided with anoutlet, of means for continuously supplying the interior of said devicewith an explosive gaseous mixture, and means for exploding said mixturewithin said device periodically and at a predetermined frequency.

4. The combination with a hollow submarine device provided with anoutlet which is always open and through which said device maycommunicate freely at all times with the surrounding water whensubmerged, of means for supplying an explosive mixture of oxygen andhydrogen within said device in the region in free communication withsaid outlet, and means for exploding said mixture within said region toproduce compressional waves in the water surrounding producecompressional waves inthe water surrounding said device. 1

6. The combination with a hollow submarine device provided with anoutlet which is always open and through which the device may communicatefreely at all times with the surrounding water when submerged, of meansfor supplying the interior of said device with a mixture of hydrogen andoxygen in such proportions that when ignited the oxygen and hydrogenwill combine to form water in the region in free communication with saidoutlet, and means for'exploding said mixture in said region periodicallyand at a predetermined frequency to produce compressional waves in thewater surrounding said device.

7. The combination with a hollow submarine device provided with anoutlet through which said device may communicate freely with thesurrounding water when submerged, of means for continuously supplying amixture of oxygen and hydrogen to the interior of said device in theregion in free communication with said outlet and in such proportionsthat when said mixture is ignited substantially all of said oxygen andsaid hydrogen will combine to form Water, and means for exploding saidmixture in said region periodically to produce compressional waves inthe water surrounding said device.

8. The combination with a hollow submarine device provided with anoutlet through which said device may communicate freely with thesurrounding water when submerged, of means for continuously supplying amixture of oxygen and hydrogen to the interior of said device in theregion in free communication with said outlet and in such proportionsthat when said mixture is ignited substantiallyall of said oxygen andsaid hydrogen will combine to form water, and means for exploding saidmixture in said region periodically and at a predetermined frequency toproduce compressional waves in the water surrounding said device.

9. The combination with a plurality of hollow submarine devices, ofmeans for supplying the interior of said devices with an explosivemixture, and means operative to explode said mixture in said devices insuccession to produce compressional waves in the water surrounding saiddevices when submerged, each of said devices being provided with anoutlet which is at all times open and through which said devicescommunicate at all times with the surroundin water.

10. The combination with a plurality of hollow submarine devices eachprovided with an outlet through which said devices may communicatefreely respectively with the water surrounding said devices when saiddevices are submerged, of means for continuously supplying each of saiddevices with an explosive mixture, and means automatically operative toexplode the said mixtures successively in the said devices.

11. The combination with a plurality of hollow submarine devices eachrovided with an outlet through which sai devices may communicate freelyrespectively with the water surrounding said devices when said devicesare submerged, of means for continuously supplying each of said deviceswith an explosive gaseous mixture, and means. automatically operative toexplode the said mixtures successively in the said devices.

12. The combination with a plurality of hollow submarine devices eachrovided with an outlet through which sai devices may communicate freelyrespectively with the water surrounding said devices when said devicesare submerged, of means for continuously supplying each of said deviceswith an explosive mixture, and means automatically operative to explodethe said mixtures successively in the said devices and at apredetermined rate of succession.

13. The combination with a plurality of hollow submarine devices eachrovlded withan outlet through which sai devices may communicate freelyrespectively with the w'ater surrounding said devices when said devicesare submerged, of means for continuously supplying each of said deviceswith an explosive gaseous mixture, and means automatically operative toexplode the said mixtures successively in the said devices and at apredetermined rate of succession.

14. The combination with a plurality of hollow open ended submarinedevices, of means for supplying said devices with an explosive mixture,and means automaticall operative to produce a spark in one of saidevices to cause an explosion of said mixture in said device and then toproduce a spark in another of said devices to cause an explosion in saidsecond mentioned device, said devices being thus caused to operate in apredetermined order to produce compressional waves in the watersurrounding said devices.

15. The combination with a plurality of hollow submarine devices, ofmeans for supplying said devices with an explosive gaseous mixture, andmeans automatically operative to produce a spark in one of said devicesto cause an explosion of said mixture in said device and then to producea. spark in another of said devices to cause an explosion in said secondmentioned device,

said devices being thus caused to operate in a predetermined order toproduce compressional waves in the water surrounding said devices.

16. The combination with a hollow submarine device provided with outlet,of

means for continuously supplying the interior of said device with anexplosive gas mixture and an ignition circuit for explod- I 5 ing saidmixture within said device. Signed at New York in the county of New 17.The combination with a hollow sub- York and State of New York this 4thday marine device provided with an outlet, of of February A. D. 1918.,means for continuously supplying the interior of said device with anexplosive gas- JOHN HAYS HAMMOND, JR.

eous mixture and an ignition circuit includ- 1 mg a source ofalternating current for explodingisaid mixture within said deviceperiodically.

